


The Disappearance of Arnold Cunningham

by PorcelainPlayground



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Alternate Universe, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mystery, Office AU, Office Romance, Religion, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-05 03:52:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14608704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcelainPlayground/pseuds/PorcelainPlayground
Summary: Kevin Price doesn't hate his job.The pay is good, the people are pleasant and with Connor McKinley as head of the department, Kevin can't find it in himself to complain.However, when Arnold Cunningham disappears, Kevin takes matters into his own hands. Along the way, he ends up inadvertently discovering a new side to Arnold and parts of his 'best friend' that he never knew existed.





	1. A Celebrated Parting of Ways

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for the Book of Mormon fandom! I'm not sure exactly where this is heading but hopefully, it'll all make sense in the end.
> 
> This fic will mainly follow Kevin/Connor, but there are also background relationships that'll come into play and become more important a little later on. A lot of the story changes as I write it, so remember to keep checking the tags in case I add something.
> 
> Also, I've taken a bit of creative liberty with the first names of some of the minor characters but it shouldn't matter too much.
> 
> I'm going to try and keep this one light-hearted, but there may be sensitive subjects brought up later on. I feel obligated to mention that religion will not be portrayed in a positive way in this story, so if that has the potential to offend or upset you, it might be best to avoid this fic.

Kevin yawned loudly and rubbed at his eyes before sighing and returning his focus the computer on his desk. He stretched his arms above his head, then brought his fingertips back to the keyboard and typed languidly, guessing at spellings and absentmindedly fixing his errors every few paragraphs when he ran out of ideas.

“See you tomorrow, Kevin!”

Kevin raised his head over the top of his cubicle and spied one of his colleagues, Robert Neely, shrugging on his coat and waving to him from the opposite side of the otherwise vacant office.

Kevin smiled and waved in return, glancing around curiously. So, he was the only one stuck in the office, working well-past 7:30 at night and didn’t seem to be finishing any time soon. 

He signed, wonderful.

Kevin squinted and tried to read what he had written but the letters on his screen all seemed to warp and merge together. At this point, Kevin couldn’t tell if he was illiterate or just over-tired. He figured it was probably the latter. This was the 4th unpaid all-nighter he’d pulled this week, thanks to the one and only: Arnold Cunningham.

Arnold was an enigma. Kevin wasn’t sure how someone so incompetent had actually landed a job here, he guessed it was probably a favour one of the bosses owed the guy’s parents.

Arnold was a short man who couldn’t be seen when Kevin tried to sit up in his seat and look into the cubicle in front of his. Though despite his short stature, everyone seemed to know when Arnold was around. Kevin would get hit with a pit in his stomach and familiar wave of pure dread. 

Arnold was friendly and loud and fun and a complete idiot. It seemed as though whatever work you gave him, he seemed to mess up. Then he’d come running up to his ‘best friend’s’ desk crying about how he was going to get fired and how he couldn’t live on the streets because he’d die out there.

So, Kevin was left to fix all of his mistakes, which usually involved writing the whole article again as well as doing his own work. Not that Kevin was unreasonable; everyone makes mistakes. Except, Arnold seemed to make huge, time-consuming mistakes _daily_. 

Kevin groaned. He wasn’t getting home before 9:00 tonight…

It had gotten to the point where he contemplated, putting together a makeshift fort in his cubicle. He’d build the walls from thick ring-bound folders and make a nest out of paperwork; his blazer would be laid over the top as a roof to block out the garish lights of the office (it’s not like he had a better use for it anyway). Actually, it didn’t sound that bad when he thought about it.

“Hey. Are you alright? You don’t look alright.”

Kevin looked up to see his boss, Connor McKinley leaning against the side of his cubicle. 

Connor McKinley was undoubtedly the only reason Kevin had not quit his job years ago. Connor was his saving grace and certainly looked the part. The linoleum lights shone from behind him, casting a heavenly glow around his body. He was Kevin’s personal guardian angel, who he knew on a first-name basis.

Kevin didn’t restrain the smile that spread across his lips at the sight of Connor. “I’m fine, don’t worry. I’m just a little bit distracted.” Kevin didn’t mention the bit about building a fort out of his work.

Connor stepped in even further to look at Kevin’s computer screen. Kevin’s breath hitched as he felt Connor lean over his shoulder.

“Working late? Again?”

Kevin wished Connor didn’t sound as worried as he did.

“It’s fine, really. I’m just finishing up.”

Connor frowned and Kevin felt himself fall a little further in love with the man. 

“Can I get you something? A coffee maybe? It might help keep you awake.” 

“I don’t want to be a bother if you’re on your way out.”

Connor waved his hand dismissively and turned to walk away.

“Kevin Price, you are absolutely no trouble at all.” Kevin felt his cheeks flush and heart race. “I’m going to get you a coffee and I hope that you’re still conscious by the time I get back.”

Kevin poked his head into the hallway and called out after Connor’s retreating form. “Can’t promise anything!”

Smiling contentedly, Kevin returned to his work. 

While lost somewhere between the 9th and 10th paragraph, Kevin was startled by a loud resounding bang from the rear of the office. Kevin shrunk in his seat and turned his monitor off. Cautiously, he crept into the hallway.

Were they being robbed? There wasn’t much to take in terms of physical money, but the thief could probably make off with a few expensive computers.

Actually, that might not be a bad thing…

Kevin wondered if he was quiet enough to escape without anyone noticing. It wasn’t like he’d miss anything if the thief ransacked the whole office.  
At that moment Kevin was met with a terrible realisation.

Connor was in the kitchen. 

There was no doubt that Connor was the most valuable thing the whole company had to offer. There was also no way Connor could hold his own in a fight, not that Kevin would ever be able to live with himself if he left Connor in the midst of a fight.

Change of plans.

Kevin turned and headed for the kitchen. 

Kevin tensed as he heard a few loud footsteps approaching, though he couldn’t tell what direction they seemed to be coming from. The cubicles were set up in columns that ran vertically down the expanse of the office, with the exception of one. 

The department manager had his own special office which had four actual walls and a large wooden door. Nailed to the door was a brass plaque, inscribed with the name: CONNOR MCKINLEY.

Kevin had always thought it a shame that he couldn’t stare at the back of Connor’s head all day, mostly as he was kept busy in his office with his own work. Still, Kevin was grateful that he seemed to have the kindest and most personable boss in the whole company. How he pitied those who had to drag themselves into work every day without seeing Connor’s smiling face.

However, it seemed as though those above Connor didn’t treat him with the same care he treated his department workers (Kevin included). Connor always seemed to have stacks of paperwork on his desk. Despite the harsh treatment Connor was dealt, he always took the time to chat with his co-workers, making sure they were all somewhat happy and not on the verge of a breakdown.

Kevin was a few feet away from the kitchen door when it was forcefully thrown open. A very panicked Connor McKinley ran out with a hastily made coffee in one hand. 

He stopped immediately when he came face-to-face with Kevin. He took a moment to catch his breath before turning to his co-worker.

Connor let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“What happened? Did you finally cave and end up smashing the computer screen with a paperweight?” 

“Actually, I have no idea what that noise was.”

“What?” Connor’s eyes widened in surprise and fear. 

They were a perfect shade of blue. Like the ocean. Kevin frowned, not like the ocean. The ocean was dark and ominous: definitely not like Connor McKinley. Maybe the sky? The sky was pretty. But Connor wasn’t sky blue either. No, he was something even more special. That’s it: Connor McKinley’s eyes were like sapphires-

“Kevin. Are you okay? You’re spacing out on me.”

“I’m…” Just comparing your eyes to precious gemstones, don’t mind me. “I’m fine.”

Kevin took the coffee from Connor’s hand and set it down on a nearby desk.

Kevin leaned in close and whispered to Connor. “I think somebody’s in here.”

Connor wrung his hands anxiously. “Are you sure?”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I heard footsteps though.”

Connor looked around nervously but didn’t spot anything unusual. 

“If we’re quick, we could probably sneak out the back and use the elevator.”

“Or we could barricade ourselves in my office? I have the key and I don’t think he’ll be able to get in if I lock the door.”

Kevin liked Connor’s plan more.

“Okay, we’ll make a break for it on the count of three.”

From out of nowhere a voice piped up from behind him, startling Kevin enough to make him spin around. He reeled from the whiplash.

“Hi, guys!”

Kevin had that voice seared into his memory: Arnold Cunningham.

Trust Arnold to rob him of a night locked in a small space with the man on his dreams. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to just take all of his leisure time. No, now Arnold was going to single-handedly ruin the only shot Kevin had with his boss.

Connor breathed a sigh of relief.

“Arnold! What are you doing here? We thought someone was trying to break in.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. He’d take armed robbery over Arnold Cunningham any day.

Arnold gasped. “Really? Oh man, that must’ve been scary!” He then turned towards Kevin. 

Kevin saw the millions of ways this could go and decided that none of them were good. 

Arnold clapped a hand over Kevin’s shoulder. 

“Well, I guess it’s a good job that Kevin’s here.”

‘No.’ Kevin wanted to whisper. ‘You think you’re helping but you’re not.’ He didn’t though. Instead, he stood there and waited for the ground to mercifully open and swallow him whole.

“Kevin’s the toughest guy I know. I’m sure he’d be able to beat up a bad guy, no problem.”

Connor laughed and turned to him. “Oh, really? Kevin, I had no idea you were so good at fighting.”

Kevin was well-aware that his face was probably dangerously red at this point. But alas, his fate was sealed.

Arnold seemed to be quite happy wrecking Kevin’s life to _shut up_ and _take a hint_. 

Arnold nodded. “Uh, huh. Like Spiderman! Actually, no, like _Iceman_! He likes kissing guys too!”

Well, if Connor didn’t know he was gay before, he certainly does now.

Unwilling to hear Arnold embarrass him any more Kevin backed away, picking his coffee up from the desk where he’d left it.

“I’d better go finish that stuff. It’s late and I’ve got to get home, so…” Kevin trailed off and tried to pretend his cheeks weren’t burning.

“Of course, buddy. You go get some rest.” Arnold waved and sent him a wink. “You’re welcome.” He tried to whisper but judging from the way Connor laughed into his fist, Kevin knew that it was definitely heard by more than just him.

Kevin dove for his cubicle. He slammed his mug down on the desk and held his head in his hands.

This was almost as bad as that time at the Christmas party. Kevin shivered. He still couldn’t look at mistletoe without feeling sick.

He had no idea how Arnold found out about his crush on their boss, or why he felt the need to ‘ _help_ ’. Kevin supposed he must have noticed the longing glances in the hallway or how Kevin always seemed happiest when talking to Connor. A small part of Kevin argued that there’s no way Arnold was observant enough to pick up on the subtle hints. Which either meant that Arnold was psychic or Kevin’s love for Connor was _extremely_ obvious.

Kevin groaned into the cushion of his hands, unsure of which one was worse.

“Hey there.”

For the first time in his life, Kevin wished that Connor wasn’t here.

“Hi.” 

Kevin looked as though he had been dragged through hell. His hair was tousled from running his fingers through it and his eyes were outlined with grey bags. Kevin had even loosened his tie and popped the first button on his shirt.

“Did you find out what Arnold wanted?

“Hm? Oh, yeah. He said that he forgot his phone and didn’t realise until he got home.”

Kevin frowned.

“That’s weird. I don’t remember seeing his phone on his desk.”

“You were at his desk?”

Kevin laughed dryly and traced Connor’s face with tired eyes.

“Yep,” he gestured to his computer screen. “He asked me to look over his work and when I saw it I just…”

Connor furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Just what?”

Kevin tipped his head back in exasperation.

“It’s just so _bad_! I mean, have you read this? I don’t even understand what he’s trying to say. My nephew could write a better article than this!” Kevin pointed accusatively at the words on his screen. 

Connor stepped forward and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Kevin preened under Connor’s kind eyes and wondered if leaning in a little closer would be too forward. 

“Kevin, you’re exhausted. Why don’t you call it a night?”

Kevin shook his head adamantly.

“This is all on a deadline. If I don’t finish a certain amount tonight, you’re going to have a lot of angry office-bearers after you.”

Connor shrugged and managed to look almost care-free.

“I’ll finish it off if you don’t. It’s not a problem.”

Except it was. 

Connor was already overworked and underpaid. Kevin decided then and there that he was not sharing this work with Connor. He was definitely not going to be one of the people adding to the mountains of paperwork on Connor’s desk.

And then there was Connor, himself. Sweet, considerate, beautiful Connor. The only one in the entire company who’d be willing to sacrifice his own time so that Kevin could get a good night’s sleep. If it had been anyone else, he would have been out the door in a heartbeat. Somewhere in Kevin’s subconscious, he acknowledged that nobody except Connor would offer to do his work for him. He called it ‘The Connor Paradox’.

“I’m just going to be another five minutes, then I promise I’ll go home.”

Connor still looked troubled but seemed to relent.

“Okay. Five minutes maximum. Then go home and get some sleep.”

Kevin gave a mock salute. “Yes, Boss.” 

Connor offered him one final smile then picked up his coat in one hand and his laptop bag with the other before turning and taking long elegant strides towards the exit – not that Kevin was watching or anything.

Kevin sighed. 

He hated lying to Connor, but there was no other way around ‘The Connor Paradox’. He took one long gulp of his cold coffee and got back to work, spurred on solely by the knowledge that he had removed one weight from Connor’s shoulders.

 

~ *~

 

Kevin gripped the body of this thermal travel cup tightly and headed directly to his desk. He kept his head down and jogged through the labyrinth of cubicles and groggy office-workers. There was one person he could not tolerate today and his name was Arnold Cunningham.

By the time Kevin got home the previous night, there was very little point in trying to sleep. Instead, he opted to make a lazy dinner and indulge in a well-deserved donut (yes, the nice one with the maple glaze that you can only find in the bakery at the far end of town). He crashed in front of the TV and fell asleep somewhere between the news and old ‘Friends’ re-runs. 

It was safe to say that he had woken up a little less than enthused the following morning.

If there was a God it seemed that he was somewhat merciful and allowed Kevin to get into his cubicle without being pestered by anyone. Kevin set his travel cup down on the desk. 

He cringed and tried to move his pencil pot and telephone forward in an attempt to hide the cup. It was a gift from his mother, back when they were speaking – back when Kevin was in the Church. 

When Kevin had first received it, some Christmases ago, he’d thought it was some kind of joke. The cup featured a round and unpleasantly yellow sun. Beneath the sun, a field stretched its way around the cup, with little grinning flowers sprouting up randomly amid the expanse of green. In big black letters, a quote from none other than Thomas S. Monson himself was written in the middle of the cup. It read: “ _The future is as bright as your faith_ ”.

Kevin never quite understood why his mother bought him a thermal travel cup. As a Mormon, it’s not like he was able to drink coffee or tea anyway. So, he settled for filling it with hot water and drinking it ironically. Nobody else in his family seemed to find it funny, though, so Kevin had stopped. 

Today it was filled to the brim with piping hot coffee. Kevin swivelled in his chair, oh if his mother could see him now: sipping coffee and crushing on his _male_ boss. It was downright sinful and the look on her face would be a sight Kevin was sure he’d treasure for a lifetime. 

“Good morning, Kevin.”

There he is: the reason Kevin gets up in the morning.

Kevin tried his best ‘ _I-went-home-and-got-a-full-eight-hours-last-night_ ’ smile and hugged his thermal cup close to his chest in an attempt to hide it from Connor.

“Hi!”

“I’m going on a coffee run. Do you want some?”

“It’s okay, I remembered my own today.” Kevin shook the cup in his hand, still keeping his fist tight around its middle.

“Wow, I’m impressed. You’re never normally this prepared in the mornings, what happened?”

“I got a good night’s sleep thanks to a certain someone.”

Connor rubbed the back of his neck bashfully and mumbled something about it not being a problem and that he’s happy to look out for his friends.

Well, it was 9:30 on a beautiful Friday morning, Kevin had been able to talk to Connor and Arnold had not bothered him at all. So, making the most of his good mood, Kevin sprung from his chair.

“You spoil us, Connor. Let me get the drinks today.”

“Really? You don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

Kevin had already brushed past him and was making his way down the hall.

“Wait!”

Connor had clasped his hand.

“You know that Michaels takes soy, right?”

Kevin smiled and spun around to face his boss. God, how was Connor _that_ endearing?

“Connor, I’ve been working here almost as long as you have. Everyone knows that Tobey Michaels takes soy.”

Connor laughed sheepishly.

“You’re right. You’ve got this. It’s just coffee.”

“Relax. Sit down and let me handle it today.”

Kevin gently guided Connor in the direction of his office when he was struck with a sudden thought. 

“Hang on.”

Connor looked over his shoulder at Kevin.

“Yeah?”

“What do you drink? You’re Mormon so coffee and tea are out of the question. Neeley sometimes keeps his son’s juice boxes in the fridge, I could probably hook you up if you wanted.”

Connor rolled his eyes and gave Kevin a playful shove.

“Water, please.”

“Are you sure? Robert wouldn’t mind if you had just one.”

“With ice.”

“How adventurous.”

“And a slice of lemon.”

“That’s more like it.”

Kevin made his way to the kitchen and stood there trying to remember what everyone in the office liked to drink. Maybe he’d bitten off more than he could chew, but there was no way he’d admit it. 

Kevin probably a few cups short, but he largely called his coffee run a success (after all it had been years since he’d last made his co-workers drinks). He was in the process of passing out the few remaining mugs when he spied Arnold Cunningham’s desk.

It was exactly as it had been left yesterday. The stacks of papers were unchanged and Arnold’s computer was switched off. Even weirder, Arnold was nowhere to be seen. Hell, Arnold couldn’t even be heard and _that_ was new.

Now that Kevin thought about it, the office _did_ seem somewhat quieter.

If Kevin were being completely honest, he’d admit that he had often just hoped that Arnold would call in sick but it never seemed to happen. Kevin had believed that he was just immune to all illnesses and that a day like this would never come. 

Slightly unsettled, Kevin made his way back to the kitchen. Only Connor’s water remained on the counter.

Kevin held the water carefully and made his way to Connor’s office. He knocked on the door and poked his head inside when he heard Connor’s muffled voice tell him to “come in”. 

Connor couldn’t be seen from behind the wall of paperwork strewn across his desk.

Kevin looked for somewhere to set the glass and after a moment of finding nothing Connor stretched his arm over the numerous files and took the water from Kevin.

“Thanks, Kevin.”

“It’s no problem.” Kevin tried his best to sound nonchalant. “Have you seen Arnold, today?”

“No. He didn’t come in.”

“I guess it’s really unlucky that he’s sick on a day like this.”

Connor leaned around a paper tower and frowned.

“Where did you hear that? Arnold hasn’t phoned in sick. Actually, I haven’t heard anything from him at all.”

“Maybe he slept in? It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Connor looked at the clock doubtfully.

“He’s normally in by noon though. This is late, even for him.”

Kevin hummed in agreement. “Well, I’ll leave you to it.”

He shut the door on his way out and leant against it. He left Connor’s office with more questions than answers.

Upon finding himself at a dead end, Kevin returned to his desk to actually get some work done.

 

~*~

 

“Hey, Kevin!”

Kevin looked up to find Connor McKinley shrugging on his coat and standing among a few other familiar faces. 

“Are you coming out tonight?”

Kevin was confused for a moment then realised: it’s Friday.

Friday nights were when a few close friends from the office would go out to a small local bar and chat over a few drinks. It was something Kevin had never done before as he was always staying late to clean up his ‘best friend’ ‘s messes. But there was no Arnold today. There was nothing stopping him.

Kevin stood up, smiling widely. 

“Yeah, just give me a second.”

Kevin tried to shut his computer down with one hand while trying to jam his religious travel cup into a desk drawer with the other. Somehow Kevin had also managed to shimmy into his coat.

Kevin was in front of Connor within the minute.

“Ready?”

Kevin smiled. “Yes.”

The bar itself wasn’t much. The building looked pathetic compared to the other large buildings that Salt Lake City was home to. The inside was tiny and could only seat 20 people at one time. Luckily, only a small group had decided to come out. 

Despite being small in number, the office-workers nearly took up half of the sitting space. The group was pretty divided in terms of drinks. There was the half that Kevin belonged to which opted for something strong that’d help them relax quickly. And then there was Connor’s half who ordered an assortment of mocktails in place of actual alcohol. 

One of Connor’s closest friends, Christopher Thomas explained that he went to the same church as Connor and a lot of them were pretty strict Mormons. 

That was something Kevin already knew but wasn’t willing to come to terms with. He was already well acquainted with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not that anyone at his work knew about his history with the Church. Actually, there was only one in the office who attended Church in Salt Lake City with Kevin and that person was not here right now…

The fact that Connor was Mormon stung a little. Being gay in the Church didn’t go down well and he could only imagine what horrors a relationship with his boss would unleash upon the redhead. 

It was a depressing thought, but he wasn’t about to risk asking Connor out and getting him excommunicated. He knew what kind of power the power the Church held over the community and it was terrifying.

So, Kevin settled for seeing him every day. He settled for working hard so that Connor wouldn’t have to. He settled for loving Connor from a distance.

 

~*~

 

The phrase “all’s well that ends well” is the biggest pile of bullshit Kevin Price had ever heard. Then again, he never was a Shakespeare fan.

Kevin managed to find his way home somewhere after 1:30 but before 2:00, a little drunk but otherwise steady on his feet.

His body seemed to run on autopilot, while his mind was clouded with images of post-work Connor McKinley.

It was a side of Connor that Kevin hadn’t seen before but it was love at first sight when he saw Connor open up and talk about what he really loved. Connor seemed to be quite the fan of musical theatre. Chris had more than a few stories about their mission in London. In which Connor had managed to smuggle a group of them to the matinee showing of ‘The Phantom of The Opera’ on the West End. Apparently, he cried at the end although Connor, with reddened cheeks, firmly denied it.

Kevin made his way into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and plucked the last maple-glazed donut from the box. After all, a perfect day needs a perfect ending.

Kevin curled up on the couch for a late night of lolling on the couch and losing himself in trash TV.

It was in the midst of flicking between channels that Kevin heard a name he had forgotten in the midst of drinking with Connor and company.

“-Arnold Cunningham reported missing- “

Kevin felt himself sober up in an instant. 

His blood felt cold in his veins and his eyes bulged as a picture of Arnold appeared on the screen. He was smiling and waving to whoever stood behind the camera. 

Kevin felt overcome with nausea and discarded the remnants of his donut in favour of drinking the icy water.

The glass was drained and set back on the coffee table. 

Kevin cradled his head in his hands and switched the TV off to help sooth the onset of a throbbing headache.

Tucking his legs up to his chest, Kevin remained on the couch for a few minutes longer.

Once he was certain that he was not going to throw up, Kevin shuffled slowly to the kitchen, refilled his empty glass, then made his way back to the sofa. Kevin braced himself before aiming the TV remote at the sensor and pressing the ‘on’ button almost reluctantly.

However, the news channel had already moved on and was now reporting on a recent change in the weather, instead of Kevin’s missing ‘best friend’. 

 

~*~

 

Laying in bed, Kevin couldn’t sleep. He rolled over and pulled the duvet up to his chin but he still felt cold. Shivers wracked his body as he thought about the enigma that was Arnold Cunningham.

Arnold wasn’t the type of guy that goes missing. 

Then again, how well did Kevin really know him? 

All of a sudden, he wasn’t so sure…


	2. Diamonds and Memories

Kevin didn’t get much sleep during the weekend. In fact, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that he’d had none whatsoever. 

On Saturday, Kevin unofficially started his search for Arnold. It wasn’t something he’d _intended_ to do. He just thought it’d be a good idea to give his best friend a phone call to ask how he was doing and if he actually meant to _go missing_ or if it was just a very intense game of 'hide and seek'. You know, the normal stuff. 

Arnold’s number was already logged in Kevin’s phone, it always had been. Kevin just hadn’t ever used it – he’d never wanted to use it. Arnold was too friendly and always had something new to prattle on about. In the office it had become common decency to rescue anyone stuck talking to Arnold, taking them by the arm and asking them for help on a project that was due immediately. 

Now was different though and for someone who spent a fair amount of his professional career answering phones, Kevin was terrified.

Kevin dialled Arnold’s number and waited. He turned up the volume on his phone and held it next to his ear, honestly a little worried about what he was going to hear on the other end of the line. 

But there was nothing.

Well, there was the robotic pre-recorded message telling Kevin that the mobile phone was switched off and to try again later, but that didn’t count.

That meant Arnold’s phone wasn’t even ringing. It might have run out of charge, or it might be lost somewhere, or it might have been destroyed. 

Kevin shivered. 

Arnold surely couldn't have lost his phone after going in to work late at night to bring it home. Actually, did Arnold go home that night? Why wouldn't he just wait and go in the next day?

Kevin seemed to adopt the habit of torturing himself with unanswerable questions on Friday evening and didn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.

Okay, Plan B: stalk his social media.

There had to be _something_. There had to be an impromptu holiday or medical emergency nobody else knew about. But after hours of searching on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook yielded no answers, Kevin was starting to _really_ panic.

If Kevin was as good at finding people online as he claimed to be, locating Arnold’s profile should have been a piece of cake. 

But it was as if Arnold didn’t have any accounts at all.

Kevin couldn’t help but think that it seemed uncharacteristic, even for someone like Arnold. The guy couldn’t stop making friends and oversharing the little details of his life that nobody cares about. In Kevin’s opinion, he’d be exactly the kind of person you’d find on Facebook, which made his inactivity all the more disturbing.

Sunday wasn’t any better. Kevin spent the day reading through articles from every news network he could think of. The radio was used for the first time since Kevin moved into his apartment and spewed updates on roadworks and the weather and godawful pop songs that Kevin couldn’t get out of his head.

It was safe to say that by the time Monday came around, he was showing several signs of insanity.

“Kevin! What happened?”

Kevin’s head perked up at the sound of Connor McKinley’s voice and turned just in time to watch him sprinting down the hallway.

Connor came to an abrupt stop in front of Kevin and looked him up and down with abject horror. 

“Were you mugged?”

Okay, so Kevin knew he wasn’t looking great at this point, after all, sleep deprivation and guilt has its own effects on the body but did he really look that bad?

“Kevin please say something, you’re kind of freaking me out.”

“I’m fine. Don’t -“

“No. You’re clearly not ‘fine’. What happened to you? You seemed alright on Friday.”

“You worry too much.” Kevin shrugged nonchalantly and took a sip of his lukewarm coffee.

Shaking his head adamantly, Connor looked up to fix Kevin with a serious stare.

“You’re _really_ pale, like scarily so. I feel as if I’m talking to a corpse!”

“Rude. You know I don’t tan.”

“It’s more than that though! Your eyes are bloodshot and you always seem tired.”

Nodding, Kevin added, “Sleep-deprivation does that to you.”

“But _why_ aren’t you sleeping?”

Now, that’s not something Kevin could just come out with, was it?

Connor sighed and perched himself on the corner of Kevin’s desk. He withdrew a pen from the pencil pot and fiddled with it, unscrewing and screwing the cap. 

“If you’re…” 

Connor trailed off and stared fixedly at the pen. From where Kevin was stood, it was easy to tell that Connor wasn’t seeing what was in front of him. His eyes were glazed over and his face looked unnervingly blank. 

Kevin resisted the urge to kneel down in front of him, take hold of his hands and reassure his boss that everything will be alright. 

Instead, Kevin stood patiently and waited for Connor to gather his thoughts. 

“If you’re having, um, _trouble_ sleeping, there are things for it, you know? I had a really rough time a couple of years ago." 

Connor brought one leg up to his chest, while the other dangled a few inches off the floor. “I had this recurring dream. It’s really stupid looking back on it now but at the time I just couldn’t get any rest. It got to the point where I just tried _not_ to sleep. That didn’t work out too well though.” He tried to laugh but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Connor, are you sure that _you_ don’t need help?” Kevin tried his best not to sound condescending but even he winced at his own words.

Connor placed the pen back in the pot and slid off the desk.

“Nah, I’m fine now. I had some great people looking out for me, I still feel like I owe Poptarts though.”

“Poptarts? As in the snack?”

"Chris," Connor stated. Then added in clarification, “It’s an old nickname that just seemed to stick.”

Kevin nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“Well, I’d better get back to work.”

“It’s 6:30 in the morning.”

“I know.”

“Work doesn’t start until 9:00.”

“I thought I’d come in a bit earlier today. Maybe aim to finish before the sun sets.”

Connor pinched the bridge on his nose and muttered something that Kevin couldn’t hear.

“Okay, I’m just catching up on some filing, so come find me if you need anything.” Kevin smiled in thanks and moved to turn around. “Kevin, wait!”

Connor had lunged for Kevin’s hand and gripped it tightly.

Kevin flushed. This wasn’t fair. Connor was doing everything possible to win Kevin over and he could never do anything about it. 

“You can trust me. If you ever want someone to talk to, I’m always here. I know you’re going through something right now and it really isn’t my place to force it out of you, but I honestly just want to make sure that when you do want to talk about it, you’ve got someone to come to.”

Kevin felt his heart race. Oh, Connor McKinley, if only you knew what Kevin really wanted to tell you…

He had never felt so in love. This was the Connor that Kevin had gotten to know over 4 years. It was unknown when Connor drifted from attractive boss, to good friend, to love of his life but here he was and the feelings of pure adoration didn’t seem in a hurry to leave.

"Thank you," Kevin added and Connor smiled.

It was a small, close-lipped smile that was reserved for rare moments of complete sincerity. 

Kevin’s knees suddenly felt weak and he braced himself with one hand against the side of his cubicle to keep his body upright.

Kevin wished Connor McKinley was harder to love …

 

~*~

 

Kevin knew the route to Arnold’s desk by heart.

He had secretly prided himself on knowing all the tips and tricks when it came to evading it, so going there willingly was a change of pace.

It wasn’t uncommon for the people in the office to decorate their cubicles with personal articles. Kevin knew that Robert Neeley kept a picture of his wife and child above his desk and that Connor mounded a framed painting of his cat on the wall. But Arnold seemed to take it to a new extreme.

Walking into Arnold’s office gave Kevin a headache. It was a flurry of garish colour with an assortment of pictures and posters tacked to the cubicle walls. They featured a plethora of characters both fictional and otherwise and were held in place with a mixture of tape, blu tack and push pins. It was a miracle that the walls hadn’t collapsed in on themselves. 

Arnold even kept a lightsaber propped up in the corner, it always seemed to be lit up a pale blue – even when Arnold wasn’t brandishing it. Kevin had no idea how it was allowed in the workplace but figured that Connor probably had a hard saying ‘no’ to someone like Arnold.

Loose pieces of paper were strewn across the desk, Kevin recognised them as half-finished documents that should have been turned in weeks ago. Kevin grimaced as he thought about all the work he’d need to do and tried sifting through them. There had to be something out of the ordinary buried under all these files.

People would probably start coming in at around 8:00 but he doubted that they'd start asking questions until at least 8:30, that should give him more than enough time to sift through the papers.

Kevin sat down at Arnold’s desk and tried to resist the urge to adjust the seat, why was Arnold so short?

With a resigned sigh, Kevin gathered a few pages into a pile and began to scan over them. He wasn’t surprised to find little doodles in the margins and chunks of paperwork filled out completely wrong. 

Suddenly feeling very sorry for himself, Kevin swore that if Arnold ever shows up; he’s getting a blue lightsaber to the back of his head for all this unpaid overtime. 

It was a little after 7:30 in the morning and Kevin had already managed to down three cups of coffee, look over all the papers and organise the files into several neat piles. After all, he'd probably end up working on them later anyway, it was best for them to be in some kind of order.

Kevin sat back and studied his work with a smug smile. It was only natural for Kevin to excel in his work, he’d always had some kind of overbearing need to be the best in everything he did. Yeah, sure, it might mean that he came off as a bit of a dick to other people, but Kevin never could find it in himself to actually care enough to change.

Kevin sighed and pushed himself round and round in circles on the swivel chair. While he had managed to clear the monstrosity that was Arnold’s desk, Kevin was nowhere closer to figuring out what had actually happened to Arnold. 

Kevin held his head in his hands and let out a muffled groan of frustration. There had to be something…

His phone.

That was the only thing Kevin had to go off. That crappy little BlackBerry KEYone had to have something to do with Arnold’s disappearance and Kevin was going to find out why it was so important.

Kevin leant over the desk and pushed Arnold’s collection of figurines to one side. He shifted through the piles and tugged at the handles on Arnold’s desk draws, genuinely surprised to find them locked. 

Arnold never locks his desk draws. Ever.

Kevin would know, he’s always the one who has to go through them and bring overdue work to Connor before his so-called best friend got into any trouble with the higherups.

“What is he hiding?” Kevin muttered in frustration.

It wasn’t often that Kevin found something he couldn’t do, so solving the mystery surrounding Arnold had him mumbling and rolling the chair back and forward in annoyance.

Then something caught his eye.

It was a little something but a something nonetheless.

Kevin stood from the chair and squatted in front of Arnold’s desk. Squinting his eyes, he crawled under a little further and ran his fingers along the cluster of wires that lead from Arnold’s PC to the extension cord tucked away from sight. 

Assembling computers wasn’t really Kevin’s thing but he was able to trail his fingers along the wires, tracing them back to the different USB ports found at the back of Arnold’s PC. Kevin picked up a smaller wire and ran his fingers along the length of it, ultimately finding that it was not plugged into Arnold’s computer at all.

Shaking with excitement that he might have actually found something, Kevin retrieved his phone from his back pocket. It was a different brand to Arnold’s but he held the charging port up to the end of the cable, noticing that they were similar in size.

It was a phone charger.

Why would Arnold leave his phone charger?

“Hiya Kevin.”

The voice had Kevin springing up suddenly, delivering a violent blow to the back of his head where it hit the edge of Arnold’s desk.

A resounding “fuck” tore from Kevin’s throat as he cradled the back of his head and hissed in pain. Kevin screwed his eyes shut and bit down on his lip to prevent any other ‘inappropriate words for the workplace’ falling from his mouth.

Upon opening his eyes, Kevin came face-to-face with a very confused Connor. Brilliant.

Kevin moved one hand from the back of his head to give a little wave. “Hi.”

“Why were you curled up under Arnold’s desk?”

“I was,” Kevin’s eyes darted about the office and fell on the suspicious phone charger. “I was just looking for something.”

At this point, Connor appeared disturbingly calm about the fact that he had found one of his top-performing workers under a desk at 8:00 in the morning.

“Did you find it?”

“Hmm?”

“What you were looking for?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t. It was nothing, I might just head back to my desk.”

“Are you sure? I can help you look.” Connor smirked and wow was that a good look on him. “You know? Because you’re injured and all.”

Kevin waved his hand dismissively. “It’s nothing really.”

Amused, Connor cocked an eyebrow. “It must have been pretty important to have you crawling under desks.”

Kevin dropped back down onto the chair and tried to smile even though he could feel his cheeks burning in embarrassment. 

“It was just some work that I needed to finish off. Don’t worry about it.”

Connor instantaneously locked eyes with Kevin and tried to peer past the blatant lies. Kevin tried his best to look as innocent as possible, but God, Connor's eyes were so pretty that Kevin found himself on the verge of either pouring out an unrehearsed monologue about his feelings for Connor or reciting the situation with Arnold from start to finish. At this point, he had no idea which one was the lesser of two evils.

Luckily though, Connor turned away and looked at the pictures on the cubicle walls. Smiling slightly and rolling his eyes fondly, until:

“Oh, my gosh…”

“What?” 

“Kevin, it’s you.”

Kevin stood and moved to Connor’s side, finding the photo that Connor’s fingers were hovering over.

_Fuck._

Kevin tipped his head back and rubbed at his eyes. 

“I seriously can’t believe he kept that.” It seemed as though the universe wasn’t going to give him a break today.

It was an old picture of Kevin back when he had just turned nineteen. He was gathered with the other Mormons in his city and was smiling widely at the camera. Arnold was there too, looking almost as out of place as Kevin did. While Arnold stood out purely for the fact that he lacked the pristine look of perfection, Kevin seemed to appear awkwardly detached and distant from the other boys. 

“You were a Mormon?” Connor’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

“Yeah, I guess. I grew up in Salt Lake, who in this city hasn’t been Mormon at some point?”

“But it’s _you_.” Connor looked back and forth between Kevin and the photograph. “You’re like the _opposite_ of Mormon. There’s no way you were a part of the church.”

Kevin laughed a little and studied his younger self. “They all thought I was the best Mormon the centre had ever seen.” 

“So, what happened?” Connor gasped in horror. “Did you start reading anti-Mormon books?”

“No. It was nothing like that.”

“What commandment couldn’t you keep?”

Kevin’s fingers found their way to his collar and he tugged at it while hoping that Connor couldn’t sense his discomfort.

“That wasn’t it. I just left.”

“There had to be something though. Nobody just walks away without a reason.”

“Okay, you caught me. I tried coffee.”

“Kevin-“

“Really, Connor, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s got this kick that’ll keep you awake for days and there’s this bitter taste that’s just _amazing_. You should try it. It’s definitely with sacrificing your whole religion for.”

Connor didn’t seem satisfied with his answer and opened his mouth to protest but Kevin beat him to it.

“I remember when that picture was taken. We were being briefed for our missions. Arnold and I were mission companions.”

Connor gaped. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“I never really thought that it was important.”

Kevin’s wrist was ceased by his boss and he was lead over to the desk where Connor took a seat and patted the spot next to himself encouragingly. Kevin slid close enough so that their legs were toughing and wondered in Connor felt a jolt of electricity too.

Connor turned to look at him and smiled.

“I want to know everything. Spill.” Kevin could feel Connor’s breath on his lips and thought about how easy it would be to just lean in and-

"Arnold and I were paired up together that day. I'd never actually spoken to him before that. Sure, I knew of him. But I was never that close to the others in my centre, I actually reckon that most of them hated me.”

“Why would anyone hate _you_?”

“I know, right! I’m, like, the most lovable guy in the whole office!” Kevin quipped, rocking a little bit so that his shoulder knocked into Connor’s prompting a new bout of laughter.

Still snickering, Connor nodded. “Absolutely.”

Kevin felt his heart leap from his chest but tried his best to pretend that Connor’s confirmation was just a passing joke and didn’t mean the world to him. 

“Seriously though, I was kind of an asshole. I guess I still am.”

Connor huffed and rested his hand on Kevin's. "I'm sure you weren't that bad. Where did you go on your mission, anyway?”

“Oh, I never actually went on my mission. I had already left the church at that point.” Kevin craned his head around Connor to glimpse the picture on the wall. “It was somewhere in Africa. I’m pretty sure it was a village in Uganda. I can’t remember the name of it, Arnold probably does though.”

“So, Arnold went on his mission without you?”

Kevin shrugged. “I’m not sure. They probably assigned someone else to be his companion. The Church wasn’t too keen on outsiders knowing their business so I was kept out of the loop when it came to that stuff.”

Connor closed his hand around Kevin’s and looked at the floor. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Don’t be. Leaving was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Connor still had his eyes trained on the ground and Kevin could tell from the little frown on his face that he couldn’t have been thinking about anything good.

“Well, I’m going to go make some coffee before the others start coming in. Lemon-water, right?”

Kevin’s voice seemed to drag Connor from whatever daze he had lost himself in.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

Kevin turned and made his way to the kitchen.

Since when did acting confident become so tiring? Kevin was pretty sure that he’d managed to keep up the façade his whole life without a hitch but when it came to Connor, Kevin seemed to have trouble dancing around the truth.

 

~*~

 

Kevin liked to bring his own lunch to work.

Leaving the office to roam the streets in search of decent food for reasonable prices was always more trouble than it’s worth. Instead, he’d spend the previous evenings cutting up vegetables for a salad or setting aside a portion of homemade soup. 

Today he’d opted for a sandwich. Over the weekend he hadn’t had the time to make anything considering the search for Arnold was in full swing by Sunday afternoon.

Kevin reached for his mug but his hand landed on the plastic desk. Oh, that's right, he'd left it in Arnold's cubicle when he was sorting the papers out. Kevin pulled open his desk drawer and, lo and behold, Kevin's godawful travel cup sat there nestled between two large folders. Kevin glared at it unkindly but picked it up nonetheless.

How he hated the travel cup.

Still, he liked coffee enough to suck it up and make his way to the kitchen, travel cup in hand.

Upon entering, Connor and Chris were chatting animatedly as Connor watched the numbers count down on the microwave and Chris readied his plate for when his food would spring forth from the toaster.

“Hi, Kevin."

Chris smiled warmly as Kevin joined them.

“Let’s guess, coffee?”

“Of course.” Kevin laughed and made his way to the coffee machine. It was the fancy one that they’d managed to buy through pooling some money together. Kevin loved it when everyone banded together for a good cause.

Kevin set his travel cup down on the counter and moved to refill the filter.

“What is _that_?” Connor gasped and dove for Kevin’s cup.

Chris moved to his side. Upon seeing the travel cup in Connor’s hand his face broke into a grin. “Oh, Kevin, where do they sell cups like this?”

“Shut up.”

“No, really, I want to get one for myself.”

Connor giggled into his hand and turned to Chris. “Could you imagine walking into Church with this?”

“Oh, I’m sure Kevin already knows what that’s like.”

Kevin tensed and turned around slowly, trying to remain nonchalant when he asked, “how did you know that?”

“Know what?”

“That I used to go to Church.”

“Oh, Arnold told me.”

“How many people did Arnold tell?” 

“Just me. I guess I kind of found out on my own though, so don’t blame him.”

Chris plucked his piping hot pop tarts from the toaster and took a bite from one, hissing as it scorched his tongue. 

“Well, I’d better get back to work.” 

Chris backed up against the door and reached behind himself to fumble with the door handle. 

“Chris wait-“

Kevin’s words fell on deaf ears as Chris had already slipped out of the kitchen.

Silently, Kevin turned around to finish making his coffee.

Connor set the travel cup down and took a few steps closer to where Kevin stood with his back turned to his boss.

“Kevin.”

There was no sound other than the gentle buzzing of the microwave and the hum of the coffee machine as Kevin waited patiently for it to brew.

“Kevin.”

Connor crept even closer, keeping his voice low and honey-coated (for good measure). When Kevin didn’t reply, Connor gently took hold of his shoulder.

Kevin flinched violently and jumped away, heaving big, panting breaths. Connor stared at his wild frantic eyes for a moment and waited for his friend to calm down.

He didn’t have to wait long though and Kevin smiled shakily and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Sorry. I was a bit distracted there for a second.”

“Kevin, please just tell me what’s wrong.” Connor took Kevin’s hand and clutched it tightly pulling it close to his chest as he looked up with pleading eyes. “I know I said that it’s none of my business and all but I want to help you and I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Kevin shook his head. “You’ve got enough to worry about already. I can deal with this on my own.”

“But you’re not dealing with it! Kevin I’ve known you for years and not once have I seen you act like this.” Connor sounded desperate now and Kevin felt guilty for all the trouble he was causing his boss. Seriously, Connor deserved better.

“Connor, before you said that I could trust you.”

Connor seemed taken aback but nodded nonetheless. “Yeah, I did.”

“Did you mean it?”

“Of course.”

Kevin looked at the door briefly and then back to Connor. "Arnold's missing."

"I'm sure he'll turn up eventually, he has probably just forgotten to call in and tell me that he's not coming in today."

“No. I mean as in someone must have filed a missing person report.”

“Are you sure?”

Kevin nodded tightly and took a quick swig of his coffee. “I’m going to find him.”

“How? If he really is missing then what chance do we stand at finding out what happened?”

“We see Arnold every day and I’ve spent enough time around him to know that this just doesn’t add up.”

“What doesn’t?”

“Arnold came into work on Thursday. We saw him on Thursday night when he came in to get his phone.”

“And?”

“And when I was at his desk earlier I didn’t see a phone. So, he either already had it or already lost it.”

“What do you mean ‘lost it’?”

"I tried calling it earlier but couldn't get through. I also found his phone charger still plugged in at his desk. Why would he come into work especially for his phone then leave without the charger? It doesn't make sense!"

"Look, Kevin, calm down. There's probably a reasonable explanation for this. After all, it's Arnold we're talking about."

“Exactly!” Kevin moved closer and lowered his voice. “That’s why I’m worried. I heard the news report Arnold missing on Friday evening. That means that somebody had already noticed him missing and reported it.”

“Arnold’s parents live out of state so who was it that knew him well enough to realise that he’d disappeared?”

“I don’t know.”

The microwave beeped obnoxiously and the duo jumped to attention. Kevin relaxed when he saw the source of the noise and Connor raced to rescue his panini before it burnt.

“Kevin, try to calm down, okay? We’ll find him.”

“’we’?”

“Yeah, as in you and I. The two of us. We are going to find Arnold together.”

Connor plated his food and reached into the fridge.

“I don’t want to drag you into this. Arnold’s my best friend so it’s-“

Connor laughed and peered around the fridge door. “I never thought I’d live to see you admit that you were Arnold Cunningham’s best friend.”

“Really though, are you sure you want to get involved with this?”

“Of course. You never know, I might be of some use to you.”

Connor pulled a juice box from the fridge and winked at Kevin as he reached for the door handle.

 

~*~

 

There was a little part of Kevin that wanted Connor to say that – that he’d help him.

It was selfish to drag Connor into something that: firstly, had nothing to do with him and secondly, Kevin had no idea how far would go.

What if Arnold left for his own safety?

No. That’s ridiculous. What kind of trouble could Arnold get into?

Kevin shook his head at the very notion and resumed his typing.

Connor had passed his cubicle a few times and spared him passing glances that didn’t fail to put a smile on Kevin’s face every time.

Yeah, it was about the strange disappearance of his best friend but still, it was nice to think they had their own special language comprised of discreet glances and hushed conversations.

“Kevin, do you have a minute?”

Robert Neely was standing at the entrance to his cubicle.

“Yeah.”

“Good. There’s a visitor who wants to see you. I’ve told reception that I’d let you know.”

“A visitor?”

“Yep.”

“For me.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Are you sure?”

“You are ‘Kevin Price’ aren’t you?”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Okay, I get it. I’m on my way.”

Kevin quickly saved his work and headed to the elevator. 

This was weird. Kevin never got visitors. This family had disowned him, he had no friends from school and the one person he actually thought would bother to spend time with him was currently missing.

Kevin stepped out of the elevator and headed over to the reception desk.

He turned to the receptionist but another girl had stepped forward and extended her hand.

“Kevin Price?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you…”

“Nabalungi. Nabalungi Hatimbi.”

“It’s nice to meet you Nabalungi. How can I help you?”

She was dressed in a pale blue dress that stopped just below her knees and a broad sunhat fell down across her face. She didn't look like she was here to do business…

“Arnold’s missing but you probably already know that. I was hoping that you could help me.” 

She looked up enough for Kevin to peer under the hat and meet her eyes. They seemed bloodshot and glistened with unshed tears.

“I’m really sorry. I have no idea where Arnold went. I’ve been trying to find him myself.”

“But you’re his best friend! If you don’t know where he went, then I might not be able to find him at all.” For someone who seemed on the verge of a breakdown, Nabalungi held herself together surprisingly well. Kevin wished he had the ability to remain as level-headed as her.

“Surely he must have told you something. Are you his girlfriend?”

Arnold had never mentioned going out with someone. Kevin had begun to think that the guy would probably end up alone with a house full of cats. 

Nabalungi shook her head and held up her left hand.

Coiled around her ring finger was a silver band. A cluster of white, glistening diamonds surrounded one central sapphire. 

“He’s my fiancée.”


End file.
